Scan barcode
kle105's review
2.0
I received an Advanced readers copy of this book via NetGalley however all opinions are my own.
I have to say based on the summary I had expected this book to be more mystery suspense than romance. I don't mind a good romance however I was just expecting more plot. The kidnapping portion of this book was really only 2 chapters with the rest being the sexual tension between the characters who were scorned exes of their cheating ex-spouses. There was one scene after Abby was rescued that they start going at each other in the hot springs which was really awkward and not very realistic.
I have to say based on the summary I had expected this book to be more mystery suspense than romance. I don't mind a good romance however I was just expecting more plot. The kidnapping portion of this book was really only 2 chapters with the rest being the sexual tension between the characters who were scorned exes of their cheating ex-spouses. There was one scene after Abby was rescued that they start going at each other in the hot springs which was really awkward and not very realistic.
jackiehorne's review
4.0
see full review at
http://romancenovelsforfeminists.blogspot.com/2014/07/feminism-in-romantic-suspense-jill.html
http://romancenovelsforfeminists.blogspot.com/2014/07/feminism-in-romantic-suspense-jill.html
hannas_heas47's review
5.0
Thanks netgalley for a free read in exchange for a review. I loved it, I thought the plot was going to be a simple one from how it started it but this book was anything but simple. It kept me engrossed through out the book, and I didn't want to put it down. Which anything that sucks me in definitely gets five stars for a rating, and the chemistry between the characters was great. I had hoped for a bit more on Leo and Brooke, but since this is a series hopefully they will show up again, maybe with their own book.....
prgchrqltma's review
3.0
Characters: Wronged exes and their children
World Building: Northern california forest
Plot: Serial killer, personal growth
Sex: Delayed. Medium.
Read another: Yes.
I'm not sure this is Sorenson's strongest outing in this series.
World Building: Northern california forest
Plot: Serial killer, personal growth
Sex: Delayed. Medium.
Read another: Yes.
I'm not sure this is Sorenson's strongest outing in this series.
anacoqui's review
4.0
Backwoods (Aftershock 4):
Backwoods is set a year after Island Peril, and it opens with Abby driving her daughter Brooke to a cabin in the woods, where Brooke’s father Ray, his wife Lydia and her son, Leo are supposed to join them for the week. Abby’s ex is chronically unreliable, and self-centered, so rather than risk her daughter ending up alone in the High Sierras if he cancels their family vacation at the last minute again, she risks an uncomfortable week with her ex to make sure her daughter doesn't end up alone.
Nathan Strom is a former major league baseball player who lost his career and marriage to injury and alcohol abuse. He is sober and working on rebuilding his life and reputation. He knows he was an absent husband and father and is looking to make amends and build a relationship with his son. When Ray and Lydia cancel, Nathan jumps at opportunity to spend time with his estranged son, Leo even if Leo doesn't really want him there.
Nathan, Abby, Leo and Brooke try to make the best of things, despite their disappointment and frustration with Lydia and Ray. Trying to make the best of awkward circumstances and unable to say no to the irrepressible Brooke they agree to spend several nights of hiking in the backwoods.
Nathan, Abby, Leo and Brooke are bringing with them a mess of insecurity and emotional uncertainty into the woods with them that would have made for a perilous camping trip without being stalked and hunted in the woods. But threatened, stalked & hunted they are. Sorenson did a great job building suspense, paranoia and a creeping sense of danger. The action scenes where they are fighting for their lives were incredibly pulse-pounding and lived up the action/survival plots in the previous Aftershock novels.
The novel at its core revolves around parenting and what it means to be a family. Nathan and Leo are trying to learn how to talk to each other again, while Abby and Brooke are negotiating parental anxiety and independence in they try to transition into adults parent-child relationship. And they are all wrestling with the impact of Ray and Lydia’s absent or inconsistent parenting and the permanency of relationships in blended families. Additionally Brooke and Leo are also trying to define what they are to each other, and what kind of feelings they can or do have for each other, while trying to sort out what it means to be an adult. So while Nathan and Abby are clearly attracted to each other, they are often more concerned with how their behavior will affect their children.
As a child of divorce, a lot of the conflict and tensions in the Hammond-Dwyer-Strom family really rung true.
Where the novel fell short for me was establishing an emotional connection to the characters. While I stressed for them when their lives were endangered, I struggled to connect to the emotional lives. The 3rd person narrator was too insightful, knowing and rational about the character’s history and motivations, in contrast to the confusion the characters were experiencing about their feelings, reactions and emotions. It distanced me from the characters as they tried to sort out their feelings for each other when they were no longer fighting for their lives.
I am also lukewarm on the ending, I think Sorenson was building toward a good resolution but it still felt a bit abrupt as it still seemed to be too many obstacles left for Abby and Nathan to resolve, particularly in terms of their kid’s relationships to each other for me to believe in their HFN might turn into a HEA. I suspect that their kids will eventually have their own book but I was surprised not to see more resolution here.
I still really liked the book, particularly because it was so ambitious and delivered such great action.
A digital copy of Backwoods was provided by the author for review purposes.
Backwoods is set a year after Island Peril, and it opens with Abby driving her daughter Brooke to a cabin in the woods, where Brooke’s father Ray, his wife Lydia and her son, Leo are supposed to join them for the week. Abby’s ex is chronically unreliable, and self-centered, so rather than risk her daughter ending up alone in the High Sierras if he cancels their family vacation at the last minute again, she risks an uncomfortable week with her ex to make sure her daughter doesn't end up alone.
Nathan Strom is a former major league baseball player who lost his career and marriage to injury and alcohol abuse. He is sober and working on rebuilding his life and reputation. He knows he was an absent husband and father and is looking to make amends and build a relationship with his son. When Ray and Lydia cancel, Nathan jumps at opportunity to spend time with his estranged son, Leo even if Leo doesn't really want him there.
Nathan, Abby, Leo and Brooke try to make the best of things, despite their disappointment and frustration with Lydia and Ray. Trying to make the best of awkward circumstances and unable to say no to the irrepressible Brooke they agree to spend several nights of hiking in the backwoods.
Nathan, Abby, Leo and Brooke are bringing with them a mess of insecurity and emotional uncertainty into the woods with them that would have made for a perilous camping trip without being stalked and hunted in the woods. But threatened, stalked & hunted they are. Sorenson did a great job building suspense, paranoia and a creeping sense of danger. The action scenes where they are fighting for their lives were incredibly pulse-pounding and lived up the action/survival plots in the previous Aftershock novels.
The novel at its core revolves around parenting and what it means to be a family. Nathan and Leo are trying to learn how to talk to each other again, while Abby and Brooke are negotiating parental anxiety and independence in they try to transition into adults parent-child relationship. And they are all wrestling with the impact of Ray and Lydia’s absent or inconsistent parenting and the permanency of relationships in blended families. Additionally Brooke and Leo are also trying to define what they are to each other, and what kind of feelings they can or do have for each other, while trying to sort out what it means to be an adult. So while Nathan and Abby are clearly attracted to each other, they are often more concerned with how their behavior will affect their children.
As a child of divorce, a lot of the conflict and tensions in the Hammond-Dwyer-Strom family really rung true.
Where the novel fell short for me was establishing an emotional connection to the characters. While I stressed for them when their lives were endangered, I struggled to connect to the emotional lives. The 3rd person narrator was too insightful, knowing and rational about the character’s history and motivations, in contrast to the confusion the characters were experiencing about their feelings, reactions and emotions. It distanced me from the characters as they tried to sort out their feelings for each other when they were no longer fighting for their lives.
I am also lukewarm on the ending, I think Sorenson was building toward a good resolution but it still felt a bit abrupt as it still seemed to be too many obstacles left for Abby and Nathan to resolve, particularly in terms of their kid’s relationships to each other for me to believe in their HFN might turn into a HEA. I suspect that their kids will eventually have their own book but I was surprised not to see more resolution here.
I still really liked the book, particularly because it was so ambitious and delivered such great action.
A digital copy of Backwoods was provided by the author for review purposes.
souptheg's review
2.0
This book had me laughing every five minutes. I love a good romance novel and got it at a thrift store because the synopsis was so ridiculous. I will admit there was never a dull moment in this book but I had to take stars off because of the stepsibling romance. I think I would've been more okay with it if the daughter didn't want to have both a brotherly realtionship AND a spicy relationship with her step brother like queen you gotta pick a side! It was pretty off putting for me. Other than that, I enjoyed myself, and I actually read this book physically instead of an audio book so that was pretty exciting for me!
The story was entertaining, the characters were okay and I got some good laughs out of the casual sexism of the overall book. What can I say? I liked it.
The story was entertaining, the characters were okay and I got some good laughs out of the casual sexism of the overall book. What can I say? I liked it.
scorchingnix's review
5.0
Really 4.5 Stars
Reviewed at http://www.scorching-book-reviews.com/a-nix-review-backwoods-by-jill-sorenson-4-5-stars/
FTC : I requested this from NetGalley as I have with all of this series.
This book was unexpected. Unlike the rest of the series (which I would have tagged Suspense with a romantic sub-thread) this was Romantic Suspense. It has fantastic characters, fantastic dialogue and very tense suspense plot, just like the rest of the series, but that is where the similarities end. It didn’t feel like an Aftershock book but that isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy it. With more characters, there is more switching POV’s, which can be a little dizzying although the actual switching does flow very well, and there is also a NA romance thread. I need to clarify that, although the characters Brooke and Leo are technically Step-brother and Step-sister, there is no blood relationship. They have different parents but, as some reviewers have found this relationship questionable, I thought I should point it out as they have been Step-siblings for 7 years.
Although the main relationship mentioned in the blurb is the one between Nathan and Abby, I didn’t notice any extra time given to their relationship. In fact, there is time given to all four relationships (The hero-heroine romances and the parent-child relationships), this book probably felt more romantic as half of the relationships in it are romances.
I liked the Nathan and Abby relationship. Both have been burned by love and are have put any future love interests on hold. The main priority for the both of them is to work on the relationship they have with their child and they struggle with keeping this a priority throughout the book. I loved the way they helped each other develop as a parent; Abby tried to help Nathan with his relationship with Leo and Nathan tried to limit Abby’s protective over-mothering of Brooke. I also enjoyed the openness they had with all of the other characters in the book. Whether it is professing their attraction to each-other or Nathan disclosing facts about his past relationship with his father to Leo, both of them seem to have no time for half-truths or confusion and I love characters like this. When their relationship evolves into a more sexual one, it seems to take on a new depth and I enjoyed it even more. The sex scenes were on-page and hot as hell by the way :D
Brooke and Leo were a different kettle of fish as, like true teenagers, their entire relationship was built on half-truths and misunderstandings. Both wanted each other, both didn’t know what to do with those feelings and neither had bothered to ask the other how they other felt about this. They were defined, before they ever had romantic feelings about each other, as Step-Siblings and it was a relationship Leo struggled with especially. This was made harder for him by Brooke.Brooke was constantly flaunting her sexuality at Leo, making him uncomfortable and I’m not sure she quite understood what she was doing. Another reason I loved the character of Abby was that she took the time to explain to her that what she was doing was wrong and harassment (if only this was a conversation more parents had). I did respect the fact that Brooke took onboard what was said to her and thought about her actions. It was a sweet relationship but I can understand people’s objections to it, especially when Brooke was constantly trying to flirt with Leo whilst referring to him as “step-brother” minutes later. I was hooked by their story, wanting to know just what the heck was going to go on between them (if anything!).
My favourite plot is the fraught relationship between Leo and Nathan. Nathan has been an absentee dad with alcohol abuse issues but, now clean and sober, he craves a relationship with Leo. He has no idea what is expected of him and his frustrations made my heart bleed. Having no positive Father role models, he has no idea what to say or how to act. He also has to learn the hard lesson that being a sperm donor does not give you parental rights, that being an actual parent gives you the right to respect and a voice of opinion. Abby facilitates this relationship by being the voice of an experienced parent but it is Nathan himself that puts the time and effort into the relationship and I hoped Leo could stop being angry with him.
The suspense plot was as creepy as I have become to expect from Jill Sorenson. It was there to fuel all of the relationships and it was fantastic. The ending of that plot was pretty unexpected and I can’t help but hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of a particular person.
Overall, this is a very different story to the rest of the Aftershock books and, unlike them, I think it could be read as a standalone. With complicated family relationships, complicated young love and a refreshingly uncomplicated romance, this could be one that checks many boxes for many romance readers. The incredibly creepy suspense plot helped keep my interest too :)
Reviewed at http://www.scorching-book-reviews.com/a-nix-review-backwoods-by-jill-sorenson-4-5-stars/
FTC : I requested this from NetGalley as I have with all of this series.
This book was unexpected. Unlike the rest of the series (which I would have tagged Suspense with a romantic sub-thread) this was Romantic Suspense. It has fantastic characters, fantastic dialogue and very tense suspense plot, just like the rest of the series, but that is where the similarities end. It didn’t feel like an Aftershock book but that isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy it. With more characters, there is more switching POV’s, which can be a little dizzying although the actual switching does flow very well, and there is also a NA romance thread. I need to clarify that, although the characters Brooke and Leo are technically Step-brother and Step-sister, there is no blood relationship. They have different parents but, as some reviewers have found this relationship questionable, I thought I should point it out as they have been Step-siblings for 7 years.
Although the main relationship mentioned in the blurb is the one between Nathan and Abby, I didn’t notice any extra time given to their relationship. In fact, there is time given to all four relationships (The hero-heroine romances and the parent-child relationships), this book probably felt more romantic as half of the relationships in it are romances.
I liked the Nathan and Abby relationship. Both have been burned by love and are have put any future love interests on hold. The main priority for the both of them is to work on the relationship they have with their child and they struggle with keeping this a priority throughout the book. I loved the way they helped each other develop as a parent; Abby tried to help Nathan with his relationship with Leo and Nathan tried to limit Abby’s protective over-mothering of Brooke. I also enjoyed the openness they had with all of the other characters in the book. Whether it is professing their attraction to each-other or Nathan disclosing facts about his past relationship with his father to Leo, both of them seem to have no time for half-truths or confusion and I love characters like this. When their relationship evolves into a more sexual one, it seems to take on a new depth and I enjoyed it even more. The sex scenes were on-page and hot as hell by the way :D
Brooke and Leo were a different kettle of fish as, like true teenagers, their entire relationship was built on half-truths and misunderstandings. Both wanted each other, both didn’t know what to do with those feelings and neither had bothered to ask the other how they other felt about this. They were defined, before they ever had romantic feelings about each other, as Step-Siblings and it was a relationship Leo struggled with especially. This was made harder for him by Brooke.Brooke was constantly flaunting her sexuality at Leo, making him uncomfortable and I’m not sure she quite understood what she was doing. Another reason I loved the character of Abby was that she took the time to explain to her that what she was doing was wrong and harassment (if only this was a conversation more parents had). I did respect the fact that Brooke took onboard what was said to her and thought about her actions. It was a sweet relationship but I can understand people’s objections to it, especially when Brooke was constantly trying to flirt with Leo whilst referring to him as “step-brother” minutes later. I was hooked by their story, wanting to know just what the heck was going to go on between them (if anything!).
My favourite plot is the fraught relationship between Leo and Nathan. Nathan has been an absentee dad with alcohol abuse issues but, now clean and sober, he craves a relationship with Leo. He has no idea what is expected of him and his frustrations made my heart bleed. Having no positive Father role models, he has no idea what to say or how to act. He also has to learn the hard lesson that being a sperm donor does not give you parental rights, that being an actual parent gives you the right to respect and a voice of opinion. Abby facilitates this relationship by being the voice of an experienced parent but it is Nathan himself that puts the time and effort into the relationship and I hoped Leo could stop being angry with him.
The suspense plot was as creepy as I have become to expect from Jill Sorenson. It was there to fuel all of the relationships and it was fantastic. The ending of that plot was pretty unexpected and I can’t help but hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of a particular person.
Overall, this is a very different story to the rest of the Aftershock books and, unlike them, I think it could be read as a standalone. With complicated family relationships, complicated young love and a refreshingly uncomplicated romance, this could be one that checks many boxes for many romance readers. The incredibly creepy suspense plot helped keep my interest too :)
More...